


Sweet Sorrow

by Lee_of_io



Series: Self-Indulgent Symbrock Fluff Fics [4]
Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Baking, Dan Lewis has the patience of a saint, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Multi, Other, Slice of Life, dessert based shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-30 04:37:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17822012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lee_of_io/pseuds/Lee_of_io
Summary: Venom, Eddie, and Dan conspire to make Anne a cake and things go oh so horribly wrong in the best possible ways.





	Sweet Sorrow

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompts: "Venom and Eddie try to bake a cake for Eddie's ex." and "Eddie tries to explain to Venom that Hello Kitty isn't a real cat."

It had been Venom’s idea, initially, so Eddie felt no remorse in laying the blame for the current situation solely on the Symbiote’s figurative shoulders.

 

Of course, pointing fingers didn’t protect Eddie’s hair from flying bits of batter.

 

“Watch the speed on that thing! You’re getting it everywhere!”

 

**Don’t see you contributing to a solution, Eddie!**

 

“I would be glad to step in, but _someone_ insisted they could follow the directions just fine!”

 

**It is not our fault that your stupid species decided to make technology needlessly complicated!**

 

“I told you to set the stand mixer to speed 4, not all the way to 10!”

 

**Thought it would speed up the process! Stop yelling; we can fix this!**

 

At the moment Dan walked into the kitchen, bags of groceries in hand, to witness the two bickering; Eddie trying desperately to scrub flour off the front of his shirt while Venom wavered agitatedly over an ever-increasing mess of cake batter flying at high velocity from the mixer, which was teetering dangerously toward the edge of the countertop from the force of vibration.

 

With a deft hand, he reaches past the pair and switches the mixer off.

 

The awkward silence that ensues is broken as a glob of batter falls from the kitchen ceiling onto Dan’s shoulder.

 

And bless his heart, the man has the good grace to survey the saccharine horror show that Eddie and Venom had transformed his and Anne’s kitchen into and with lighthearted humor asks, “Do you guys maybe want some help?”

 

Symbiote and host both sheepishly admit that they were in over their heads and gladly accepted the proffered assistance.

 

The last time they had been invited over for dinner, Dan had been the one to inform the discreetly inform the pair (while Anne was distracted by an urgent phone call) that Anne had been very stressed as of late.

 

The transition into working for the public defender's office, while a noble cause, had generated a formidable workload that would find even the most capable attorney thinking twice. Anne was by no means unaccustomed to hard work and long hours; she never faltered in the face of challenges her career path hurdled at her. Anne’s unassailable determination to see through whatever she set her mind to had been one of the many traits that had endeared Eddie to her in the first place. That being said, it was quickly becoming apparent that daily stress and frustrations were eroding away at her nerves.

 

Venom was the one who had suggested to Eddie and Dan that the three of them do something nice for Anne, if only as a small gesture of how much they all appreciated and cared about her. A cake, the Symbiote decided with unwavering conviction, would be the best possible token to convey how much they all cherished her. Dan was immediately onboard with the idea and hashed out a day with Eddie where their schedules lined up and allowed for their baking scheme to commence with Anne remaining none the wiser.

 

Eddie and Venom had arrived early that morning after being given the all-clear by Dan that Anne had left for the day and that they had an easy 12-hours window to safely conduct their plan.

 

One of their precious allotted hours had been eaten up with arguing over what kind of cake they would make; Venom adamantly demanding something oozing in chocolate and Eddie, who was beginning to develop acute nausea in associating with the sweet substance, pleaded for anything but. It was Dan who had suggested the compromise of a red velvet cake, which would satisfy the Symbiote’s particular tastes without being too overpowering.

 

This settled the three moved on to the next order of business, that being, how should they go about presenting the cake? After scrolling through page after page of Google image searches and seeing professionally composed cakes that defied the bounds of the imagination, let alone their meager collective baking talents, Venom jabbed an inky tendril at the computer screen with a conviction that could not be denied.

 

Their chosen subject? A Hello Kitty cake.

 

Dan is visibly puzzled by this choice and turns to Eddie for some kind of clue, but the other man seems to be only just holding back a long-suffering look of resignation. Clearly, there was a story here just beneath the surface, but with no better suggestions to offer up, both human’s agreed to the Symbiote’s proposed cake design. At the very least, Anne would find the sentiment charming, if only because it had come from their resident extraterrestrial.

 

Upon gathering up ingredients, however, they quickly hit a snag in that the deceptively simple looking cake called for such confounding ingredients and supplies as buttercream frosting, fondant, decorating icing, and a literal Hello Kitty baking pan.

 

It was quickly concluded that the latter bit of bakeware they would have to try their best to do without, deciding that they would ultimately have to freehand carve the semblance of a cat-shaped head out of a sheet of cake. Dan had volunteered to grab the rest of the more specialized ingredients from the store while Eddie and Venom made headway on preparing the batter and baking the sheet.

 

Needless to say, the cake prep had gone no farther than the mixing of the dry and wet components before Dan walking in and had to rescue the wayward pair from their own culinary incompetence.

 

Between Dan’s trip out and Eddie and Venom’s debacle with the kitchen appliances, by the time the three of them had scoured the affected area of any remaining red cake batter (effectively lending the atmosphere an eerie reminiscent mix between a Jackson Pollock painting and a crime scene), another three hours had elapsed.

 

Thus they began again. This time, with Dan’s subtle instruction and the careful relegation of tasks, between Eddie and Venom’s separate skill sets (i.e. allowing Eddie to be the one to crack the eggs and Venom to meticulously measure out the flour, baking soda, etc.), by the time another hour had passed by the sheet cake was out of the over and in the process of cooling.

 

During this time they convened for an early lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and plotted out their next course of action.

 

“We’ll only really get one shot at carving this cake into the right shape. If we screw it up, it will be super obvious through the fondant layer”, Eddie observes while reviewing the vague instructions pulled up on Dan’s laptop.

 

**Dan should do it.**

 

Eddie turns to the Symbiote hovering over his shoulder with feigned indignation. “What, you have no confidence in me?”

 

**Dan is a surgeon. He cuts things up for a living.**

 

“Venom, I know you meant that as a compliment, but please don’t describe my profession as cutting things up–“

 

**Plus, we do not trust you with a knife, Eddie.**

 

“Hey, what’s that suppose to mean!”

 

**Eddie, last week we had to heal you after you sliced up your hand trying to use a pair of scissors to open a bottle of salad dressing.**

 

The judgmental silence that follows is deafening, broken eventually by a mystified, “did that really happen?” from Dan.

 

**Don’t worry, Dan. Eddie will not die from his own idiocy on our watch.**

 

“Wow, thanks, babe. Why don’t you air out all my dirty laundry at once.”

 

**Dan is a medical professional. He will not hold your inherent stupidity against you.**

 

“Says the one who described his job as ‘cutting things up’ for a living not one minute ago.”

 

Before Symbiote and host could launch back into another circular argument, Dan plucked the laptop from Eddie and deposited it further along the counter; pulling up reference photos of the basic cake shape they desired. Instinctively following his silent lead, Eddie and Venom fell into the motions of prepping the sheet, carefully depositing it out on wax paper and retrieving the appropriate knives for the process.  

 

“Ok. The cake just has to follow a basic round shape until it comes time to make the ears. Seems simple enough.” It wasn’t clear if Dan was stating the process aloud for Eddie and Venom’s benefit or for his own. While Dan generally presented an air of confidence, and Venom’s general faith in his skill was an encouragement, the decoration of desserts was not, strictly speaking, in his wheelhouse of talents.

 

However, to Eddie and Venom’s untrained eyes, Dan approached the sheet cake with all the mettle of a pastry chef. The two hovered anxiously as their friend made the first incision.

 

What followed was a nerve-wracking 20-minutes in which Symbiote and host could only watch as Dan painstakingly carved, shaved, cleaved, and sculpted until, at last from excavated from beneath the bits of trimmed red velvet cake emerged the vague impression of a cat’s head.

 

Honestly, the results were less than impressive, but considering Eddie and Venom both came to the silent consensus that neither of them would have been able to do a better job, it would do.

 

Besides, it was the thought that counts, right?

 

The next steps were to prove even more challenging.

 

Deciding that Eddie and Dan were taking too long, spreading only small precise dollops of frosting along the surface of the cake at a time. Their solution was to up-end the contents of the container on to the cake, much to the chagrin of the two humans caught in the crossfire. The resulting wave of buttercream left an indistinguishable mess in its destructive wake.

 

Eddie takes a moment to allow to breath deeply through his nose before silently side-eyeing his visibly rueful body-mate.

 

**Oops.**

 

The tension is broken when a soft snickering sneaks from Dan. Eddie and Venom turn to regard the other man who is beginning to breakdown into a full-blown giggle fit. This, of course, caused Eddie to start laughing alongside him. The ridiculousness of the situation had to be addressed one way or another, and laughter was probably the healthiest way to cope, given the circumstances.

 

Between spontaneous fits of giggling the three of them took baking spatulas in hand and began to spread the icing evenly across the cake’s surface while depositing the excess in a large bowl to be set aside for any miscellaneous use they might be able to salvage the buttercream for.

 

Despite all the mishaps so far, their cake was really starting to take shape. Now was the true test of their abilities as the next step was the rollout and cover the cake in fondant. Luckily, Dan had opted to buy the pre-made variety sold in large tubes.

 

Dan rolls out the white fondant for the over-all covering of the cake while Eddie and Venom are entrusted to the task of creating the signature red bow. Both Symbiote and host are mindful to maintain a fine dusting of powdered sugar on their hands (or tendrils in Venom’s case) as they work to manipulate the decorative material into shape.

 

**We are trying to make a bow, Eddie, not a malnourished pretzel.**

 

“Hey, I think that looks alright.” So saying, Eddie goes to pick up the finished ‘bow’ only for his creation to slowly wilt under the force of gravity. “Ok well, I’d like to see you do better.”

 

**Gladly.**

 

Eddie watches with mild amazement as within minutes Venom uses their mass to mold the red fondant into uniform strips before utilizing a butter-knife to indent and shape the edges. Agile tendrils work in tandem to fold and expertly press the sugary dough-like substance into a 3D hair bow, complete with loops and an impressed circular center.

 

“Shit, V, that’s amazing. Where did you learn to do all that?” He is genuinely impressed and Venom preens with pride.

 

 **It is all in the attention to detail.** The Symbiote offers as a response, waving pointedly at the Hello Kitty reference pictures now covering a majority of Dan’s laptop screen. **Wish we had a more accurate picture to work with, though. This cartoon depiction leaves much to be desired as far as her specific feline attributes. Perhaps we should have had Mr. Belvedere model.**

 

Eddie looks to Dan, catching his mildly panicked look out of the corner of his eye. Eddie gives him a subtle shake of the head, trying to prevent the inevitable, but it’s already too late.

 

The doctor clears his throat and, adopting his best bedside manner, addresses the Symbiote. “You do know that Hello Kitty isn’t a real cat, right Venom?”

 

The force by which Venom’s head whips around to face Dan makes an audible lashing noise through the air.

 

**_What?_ **

 

“Well, yeah, she’s just a cartoon character,” Dan says, trailing off.

 

Venom swings back around to face Eddie, the ever-flowing sickles of their eyes narrowing dangerously.

 

**Where you ever planning on telling us, Eddie?**

 

“Well, I don’t know, I didn’t really think that was a necessary detail?” Eddie cringes as his statement turning into a wavering question as it leaves his mouth.

 

“Can I ask what’s going on?”

 

Eddie explains as best he can how Venom and he had been shopping online, a couple of months ago, for cheap offices supplies. Eddie was rather old school when it came to his writing in that he enjoyed jotting notes and observations down on paper as they occurred to him throughout the day, thus a steady supply of pens and notepads where essential items on his shopping list. It was Venom that had made Eddie scroll back to up to the colorful display of Hello Kitty stationary sets offered at dirt-cheap prices. The Symbiote curiosity was piqued, as was usual when encountering any distinctly new foray into the intricacies of human culture. Always willing to humor his other these little intrigues, Eddie ordered a set. Venom had been thoroughly charmed by the cartoon cat ever since.

 

**We thought it was like the artists in the park, and how they make exaggerated pictures for people!**

 

Eddie doesn’t quite follow this train of logic, but Dan seems to catch on more quickly, saying, “Oh, the caricature artists! You pictured Hello Kitty as a cartoon portrait of a real cat.”

 

This observation only seemed to dampen the mood further. Venom’s mass was slung over their host’s shoulders like the worlds most morose noodle, completely unwilling to meet Dan or Eddie’s eyes more out of embarrassment than any real hurt.

 

“Hey, babe, I’m positive the cake will taste delicious regardless. I’m sure Anne will love it.” Not the smoothest attempt a trying to lighten the mood but apparently some of the unsaid sentiment must have translated across the bond between Symbiote and host as Venom rumbles out a purr of affection in response to Eddie clumsy words.

 

Their tongue plants a wet trail up the side of Eddie’s head, leaving the man reeling for a brief moment. **It will be an excellent cake because it will be made with love.**

 

Unfortunately, even with all the love an dedication of two men and one determined Symbiote, the cake still ended up looking like it was caught between a kindergartner’s artistic rendering and hot garbage. Halfway through the process of laying the fondant out on the cake the edges had furrowed and refused to straighten out. Attempts to fix this cosmetic damage resulted in the fondant covering tearing in several places. Attempts to fix the tears further resulted in the mangling of the cover layer. Someone proposed trying to disguise the damage will a thin layer of extra icing. By the time the eyes, nose, and whiskers were added on to the cake, it was already doomed to a very Frankenstein-esque patchwork veneer.

 

The only aspect that retained its integrity by the end was the unblemished hair bow that Venom had so lovingly crafted.

 

The three agreed that attempted any more aesthetic alterations would ultimately condemn the cake to ruin, they meticulously placed their combined labor-of-love (and much frustration) up high where no one could accidentally send it tumbling to an early demise.

 

Despite the let down of their expectations for the baked treat vs. the formidable reality that damned them from the depths a beady icing frosted eyes, Dan, Eddie, and Venom shared an amiable mood as they cleaned up the kitchen (for the third time that day).

 

When Anne came home later that evening, only slightly surprised by the additional presence of her ex-turned-friend and his significant alien other. The three were already in the process of preparing dinner (and having much more success with this cooking venture) and assured Anne that nothing was required of her and that she was free to relax and unwind.  

 

Delighted by this suggestion, Anne wasted no time selecting a wine bottle and pouring herself and Dan a measure. Eddie declined when offered, deciding that Venom’s insistence that alcohol was essentially voluntarily drinking poison was not a commentary he wanted grumbling through his head for the rest of the evening.

 

Throughout dinner, the four of them shared interesting little anecdotes from their various days and laughed good-naturedly as stories and food were passed back and forth. It was all together charmingly domestic.

 

Just as Anne finishes her glass of wine, she sits back with a warm smile. “So what did you three get up to today, huh?”

 

“What do you mean?” Eddie asks, fidgeting slightly with his fork as he tries to maintain an air of nonchalance.

 

“There’s something white on your left eyebrow, Eddie.” She remarks, gesturing to her own in demonstration.

 

With a muffled curse, Eddie wipes at his face aggressively with a napkin. This earns some chortles from the other inhabitants of the table. Venom takes the initiative to alleviate their other of the offending substance with a swift swipe of the tongue across his brow.

 

 **Powdered sugar.** Their grin is much too smug for the withering look Eddie shoots their way.

 

“Oh, does that mean there some dessert to look forward to?”

 

“Well, I guess it wouldn’t have remained a secret for all the much longer,” Dan says as he begins clearing the table.

 

**We made you a cake, Anne.**

 

“You did? For me? Oh, V, honey, you guys really didn’t have to do all that.”

 

**We wanted to. Wanted to do something special for you. To show you just how much we all appreciate you.**

 

“Really?”

 

The delight emitting from Anne is almost palpable. Eddie helps Dan clear the table and set out dessert plates as Venom takes it upon themself to regale to Anne the many trials and tribulations the three would-be-bakers were faced with in order to construct this cake. The Symbiote painted such a vivid verbal picture of their collective hijinks that Anne is almost falling out of her chair laughing by the time the cake is presented.

 

She takes one look at the cake placed in front of her before bursting into another fit of convulsive laughter. She keeps hastily brushing tears of mirth from her eyes, only to take another look at the nightmarish Hello Kitty before her, and breakdown into another bout of hilarity.

 

As Dan, Eddie, and Venom all exchange looks between fits of contagious mirth, they seem to quietly all agree that his reaction was much better than what they had hoped for at the beginning of their task.

 

Anne finally regains her composure long enough to address the trio of eager presenters. “I love it, guys. Very…abstract, yeah, let's go with abstract. The bow is lovely.” Venom brightens at the latter compliment. “Thank you Dan, Eddie, Venom, this was really sweet of you all.”

 

Anne stands up and wraps her arms around Dan and Eddie, drawing them close into a group hug. Not to be left out, Venom loops a coil of mass around the three gathered humans, pulling them close into a tight embrace. As the four separate and dig into their well-deserved dessert, the sounds of their companionship fill in the spaces between them.

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: Hey everyone, [fannishliss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fannishliss/pseuds/fannishliss) drew an absoluetly lovely fanart piece of the failed Hello Kitty cake that you can check out [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17838032)! <3
> 
> So my lovely partner and I watched Venom for Valentine's Day. It was her first time seeing the movie. I'm so very fortunate that she puts up with my obsession over this fandom with good-natured humor. I asked her what my next fic should be and she offered me the prompts I used for this one. I don't know if I'm completely satisfied with this fic, but that's just life I guess.
> 
> Fun fact: the little anecdote about Eddie cutting his hand while using scissors to open a bottle of dressing comes from my own personal experience. Very stupid move on my part.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed and as always, if you liked the fic, please feel free to let me know. Any and all comments, critiques, or kudos are greatly appreciated! Thank you!


End file.
